As mentioned above, 'greatest' is impossibe. But, one that still sticks in my head (and my mind's palate) was a foccacia pizza topped with thinly-sliced zucchini and a fresh ricotta-like cheese. I had it in Milan and I had been very hungry before, so of course that adds to it. But it was a style that I don't usually get at home and everything about it was so well done that it sticks in my mind almost 10 years later.

Aside from that, the most memorable pizza I've had recently was a taleggio, red onion, and pistachio pizza. This was remarkable because I had never thought of putting crushed pistachios on pizza. And although I use taleggio all the time at home, I usually put it on top of a tomato sauce but this pizza used the milky taleggio as the wet component (a 'white' pizza). It all worked perfectly. This was at Pizzeria Toro in Durham, NC.

Since True Love developed her "cow milk" allergy which includes all cheese made of it, we've made some very interesting discoveries. You don't have to use Mozzarella to make good pizza. Right now we have settled on Casia d'Roma and Pecorino Romano combo. May not be the world's best, but still very delicious.

For me, simplicity rules the day. The most memorable pizza I've had was a thin crust, Napolitano 4 cheese pizza cooked in a wood-fired oven. The taste of tomatoes in the sauce, the char of the crust and the various cheeses came together memorably.

A hand made thin crust pizza with three cheeses, and a home made sauce, with fresh summer tomatoes and lots of fresh garlic. A locally owned pizza joint made it for a long time, then they became very successful and started tossing in all sorts of pastas, calzones, and other stuff. Now they are so busy, nothing has the same quality it once had, when they were small. . It was a "go to" easy meal for me when unexpected company came out of nowhere. Everyone raved about it, even folks from much larger cities with lots of great places to eat.

We have a certified Neapolitan Pizzeria here in town (complete with a Bocce court) that has a pizza called the "Cortona" that is to die for. Coppa, olives, chili, roasted mushroom, farm egg yolk & mozzarella with a classic Neapolitan crust. Makes me hungry just thinking about it!

Mark Lipton wrote:Arni's is distinct from the Pizza King franchise, though both put out similar products. Should I schedule an offline for there? As the commercials say, "Meet you at Arni's!"

Just say "when", Mark! I was raised on Arni's Pizza and still love the stuff. They have opened lots of new locations, but I still think Market Square is the best.

Redwinger wrote:Was this preceded by heavy doses of alcohol? I'm just havin' a tough time getting my arms around world class pizza in Laff-a-lot.

It is true that "'tater-n-grits" pizza isn't offered at Arni's or any location up north in the lands that are identified only as "Here be Dragon" on all maps made south of Martinsville. If you ever set out on an adventure headed up the old Six and Five Road stop by Arni's and try one of them city-slicker pizza flavors like "cheese" or "sausage".

Sam

"The biggest problem most people have is that they think they shouldn't have any." - Tony Robbins

The pizza I will always remember and one I have duplicated several times at home is one we had in Boston at Todd English's restaurant Fig's. For whatever reason he has taken it off the menu though! Thin, but crispy/chewy crust, topped with chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and parsley. So good.

Hello. My name is Carrie, and I...I....still like oaked Chardonnay. (Please don't judge.)

Carrie L. wrote:The pizza I will always remember and one I have duplicated several times at home is one we had in Boston at Todd English's restaurant Fig's. For whatever reason he has taken it off the menu though! Thin, but crispy/chewy crust, topped with chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and parsley. So good.

Sounds outstanding. No white sauce, just olive oil and cheese?

My wine shopping and I have never had a problem. Just a perpetual race between the bankruptcy court and Hell.--Rogov

Carrie L. wrote:The pizza I will always remember and one I have duplicated several times at home is one we had in Boston at Todd English's restaurant Fig's. For whatever reason he has taken it off the menu though! Thin, but crispy/chewy crust, topped with chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and parsley. So good.

Sounds like he stole this from Frank Pepe in New Haven. Itsa good ah-beets.I haven't been to Pepe's since they expanded to multiple locations, so no idea if the quality has slipped or not. Maybe it is best not to know and remember it how good it was....and no white sauce, just freshly shucked littlenecks..

Last edited by Redwinger on Tue Apr 23, 2013 4:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Carrie L. wrote:The pizza I will always remember and one I have duplicated several times at home is one we had in Boston at Todd English's restaurant Fig's. For whatever reason he has taken it off the menu though! Thin, but crispy/chewy crust, topped with chopped clams, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and parsley. So good.

Sounds like he stole this from Frank Pepe in New Haven. Itsa good ah-beets.I haven't been to Pepe's since they expanded to multiple locations, so no idea if the quality has slipped or not. Maybe it is best not to know and remember it how good it was....and no whits sauce, just freshly shucked littlenecks..

Pepe's clam pizza was indeed a revelation for me, but likewise it's been more than a few decades since last I sampled it. No idea if the quality has fallen.

I like the Yonkers Frank Pepe's, maybe a step behind the original, but 10 minutes away is better than close to 2 hours. The clam is reason to go, though I like the tomato/mozzarello, or the summer fresh tomato. That style pizza does poorly when people decide to get lots of toppings. I always get amused by people's complaints on sites like Yelp re Frank Pepes ("the crust was thin, you couldn't fold it", "it was cut weird", "the edges were BURNT!")